Happy Halloween!

hope everyone had a happy halloween!

You're Invited!

Stacey Maddock Designs Fall Jewelry Sale

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

10am - 5pm

2007 Ramsay Street SE

Calgary, Alberta

Handmade jewelry designs by Stacey Maddock. Great holiday gift ideas, lots of new designs again this year! Price range: $12-$400. Light refreshments served and new this year, premium loose tea served by Nicole Schon of tnik.com. 10% off purchases over $100. Hope to see you!

E.coli saga continues...

this article was published a couple of days ago, possibly pointing the finger at where the kids got it. scary stuff!


Canadian beef likely cause of US e.coli cases: USDA
ReutersPublished: Friday, October 26, 2007
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A defunct Canadian meatpacker is "a likely source" of beef that caused an outbreak of food-borne illnesses in the United States and Canada, the U.S. meat safety agency said on Friday.
Nearly 100 illnesses have been reported due to the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in the two nations. The U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service said a comparison of "DNA fingerprints" of beef samples pointed to Ranchers Beef Ltd, of Balzac, Alberta.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service directed U.S. food makers not to use boneless beef "trim" from Ranchers Beef and to hold all raw products made from it until both nations complete the investigation. FSIS delisted Ranchers Beef as an importer on October 20.

In a statement, U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Richard Raymond said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency provided so-called PFGE patterns from Ranchers Beef products that "helped us determine a likely source of contaminated product which led to the September 29 Topps Meat expanded recall."
The E. coli O157:H7 bacteria can cause diarrhea and dehydration and can be deadly. Children, the elderly and people with poor immune systems are the most susceptible.
A Ranchers Beef spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Topps Meat, the largest U.S. maker of frozen beef patties, recalled 21.7 million pounds of beef. It announced on October 5 that is was going out of business because of the recall.
Ranchers Beef ceased operations on August 15. Some of its products remained in storage and were tested by CFIA as part of its investigation into illnesses in Canada.
The U.S. Center of Disease Control and Prevention said the PFGE patterns from Ranchers Beef matched those from patients who were ill and from beef samples taken by New York state officials, said FSIS.
Some 45 cases of illness caused by E. coli were reported in five Canadian provinces from July to September, including one death, said the CFIA in a statement. It said genetic testing found "the same unique E. coli pattern" in beef from an unnamed meat facility in Alberta that is "currently not operating."
"All remaining product is under detention," said the CFIA.
As of Friday, the CDC reported 40 illnesses under investigation in eight U.S. states.
© Reuters 2007

Hair

wow, looking at the picture below, i realize how crazy long my hair is getting! have no fear though, i'm not turning into howard hughes, i have plans to cut it. soon i hope! my 7 year old daughter and i have been growing our hair for almost a year now and plan to cut it for wigs for kids with cancer. you have to have a minimum of 10" so the cut will be dramatic, even for me. her's is even longer! will keep you posted.

have a great day!

Montreal

pic of me, hubby, sis and bro-in-law right before we pigged out on yet another fantastic montreal meal! se magnifique!

Traveling Fools

or maybe that should be shopping fools! we got back from a 5 day jaunt to montreal last monday. towards the end of the trip we realized we really hadn't done any sightseeing, just shopping! it was a great trip though, spent with my sister and brother-in-law and no kids! we ate at fancy restaurants without having to worry about who's pulling who's hair, throwing food, having a tantrum or refusing to eat. it was grand! came home 5 pounds heavy and many dollars lighter :) pictures to come as they are all on my sister's camera. cheers!

Tree Cutout

i haven't decided what to do with this yet. i'm thinking a pendant, maybe soldered

to another piece and darkened. will have to see.

E.Coli Part 2

thank you everyone for your wonderful emails and support! the little man is doing a lot better, no symptoms anymore, though he still tests positive. it seems it can stay in your system for 12 weeks or so. and my daughter tested positive too even though she is asymptomatic also. she probably had it first and gave it to him. it was interesting talking to the calgary health authority about how they identify the source of the e.coli. it seems they create a genetic profile, match that to other people and then look for a commonality in what or where they ate, where they've been etc. quite the mystery! oh well, we are in germ lock-down here, but other than that fairing well. thank you again, more art posts to come soon!

E.Coli

well i've had a sick little munchkin on my hands the last week. complete with a couple of visits to the emergency room. never realized e.coli was so contagious and that you don't have to have eaten meat to get it. live and learn. he's doing a lot better, though it was a bit of a scare. anyway, that's why i haven't posted in a while. hope to have some new stuff up soon. cheers everyone!

More Ceramics

these two are also currently for sale on etsy...

New Ceramic Pendants

both of these were on etsy, but the littler one already sold!

Goggleworks Auction

my dear friend Adrienne Trafford, who painted my mural (see previous posts), shows and has her studio at the Goggleworks in Pennsylvania. they are having their annual silent auction fundraiser with tons of great art. check it out, all the proceeds go to keeping this wonderful artistic community open and tickin'. Adrienne's piece is last on the auction page and is awesome (see above)! :)

http://www.goggleworks.org/galasilentauction.php

Spiky Earrings

these were a special order for a customer. i hadn't used these gemstones with the spiky series before, but it's always nice when a customer request leads to a nice combo :) so thank you anita!

Rocky Mountaineer Railway

here are just a few pix from our amazing 2 days on the train!

Vangroovy

just returned from a wonderful holiday to vangroovy (aka. vancouver)! spent 2 days on the rocky mountaineer railroad and 4 days in van. it was a fabulous trip! will post some pix tomorrow after i've had a chance to download them all! have a great long weekend!

Ceramics

a couple of these made it to etsy today and the other will be there tomorrow.

thanks for looking and have a great day!

Anodized Aluminum - Oh the Colors!

will be listing some of these fun pendants, one by one, on etsy.

Apatite - One of My New Faves

let me tell you that i despise teal, but i love this stone! it's a faceted apatite bead dangling from a melted and riveted silver disk. i also threaded the darkened chain with waxed cotton. really happy with the overall product - even thinking of making myself one!

Turquoise - is that how you spell it?

new turquoise with silver on leather necklace, also on etsy

Illustration Friday - Captain